Yes, it is Movember once again. That time when well-groomed, clean shaven males sprout Chevrons, Handlebars, and Fu Manchus. And when the typically hirsute take special care to shave their beards regularly, leaving only the region above the lip to flourish...

...This got us to thinking. As recruiters and hiring managers, do we think better or worse of the young man who interviews with an uncharacteristic Walrus? As people, we may applaud the fun way to raise money and awareness for men's health. But, when it comes to picturing this person working in our organization, does their Movember 'stache help or hurt them compared to the serious, clean-shaven guy?

We're curious for your thoughts. And, we'd like to issue a challenge. Go ahead, hire the guy with the mustache. After all, he's demonstrated some valuable things by participating in Movember.

The Recruitment technology ecosystem is changing, and it was more than evident based on the 286 interesting companies who displayed their wares at the recent HRTech event in Las Vegas earlier this month.

Retargeting, Cost-Per-Applicant models, HR analytics...HR is catching up to the rest of the advertising world, and with all the funding flowing into the industry, it appears we're the cool kids now.

I thought it would be fun to summarize the conversations, trends and companies to give you a snapshot of how the HR\Recruitment ecosystem is evolving.

The Career Network introduces an algorithm that learns from the user and offers more relevant job openings based on engagement

Beyond, The Career Network, today announced the launch of a new technology designed to match job seekers to available positions using an algorithm that learns from user habits. Appropriately called “SmartMatch,” this behavioral technology evolves as a person engages with Beyond, learning from their activity and scanning millions of job openings to find other similar positions.

The way we currently recruit talent for top positions is absurd. We need to accept that that perfect candidate doesn’t exist, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find an amazing person for the job. Beyond, Vice President of Marketing, Joe Weinlick shared his thoughts on the current recruitment process and why we’re all kidding ourselves.

Beyond.com uncovers potential reasons why so many Americans are not getting hired

Beyond, The Career Network, today announced that there may be a significant disconnect during the hiring process. Following a national survey of nearly 4,000 job seekers and HR professionals, 75% of the HR respondents said they were having trouble filling open positions because too many of the candidates were unqualified. Meanwhile, the same survey found that 55% of job seekers felt they were not getting those open positions because they were competing with too many qualified candidates.

One reason why HR professionals might not think candidates are qualified is because of their resumes. 73% of HR professionals feel that job applicants do a "bad job" of tailoring their resumes to specific positions. In fact, only 28% of candidates said they always customize their resumes for a position, which means the majority of candidates may not be taking advantage of the opportunity to highlight their most relevant experience.

When recruiting talent step out of your comfort zone. Yes, recruiting talent that will fit into your organization's culture is important, but it doesn't mean that you should discount candidates that don't fit every requirement you're seeking.

Joe Weinlick, Vice President of Marketing at Beyond.com shares a story from his past of winning business because he was different from the client and how that was a receipe for success.

We were talking with a client that’d purchased a Job Slot and Premium Search package with Beyond about a month prior and wasn’t happy with the response.

I began by taking the “seek to understand” approach and asked the client to explain their concerns. “Well”, the VP of HR said. “We just don’t feel like we’re getting enough candidates.” He went on to say, “And the candidates that are applying simply aren’t qualified. Only 2 out of 10 candidates meet our skill-based hiring criteria. We made an investment in you guys and it’s just not working. We’re frustrated.”

Too often the HR department gets bogged down with paperwork, compliance, and legalese, but in reality Human Resources should be all about branding.

“HR is the front-line of brand warfare,” says Joe Weinlick, Vice President of Marketing for Beyond.com. Coming from an ad agency where Joe spent years helping companies build their brands, it is only a natural fit that he is now an integral part of the Beyond.com team that helps HR professionals do their jobs better. Joe wrote a piece to share some easy things HR can do to help build brand.

Gina Deveney
Gina Deveney is Manager of Brand Communications at Beyond, where she has spent the last four years as a champion for brand integrity, a quality experience and just one space between sentences.
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Rich Milgram
Rich Milgram is a software engineer turned entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience. As the proud founder and CEO of Beyond, he is a recognized leader in the HR tech space.
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Julie Shenkman
Julie Shenkman is a Marketing and Communications Manager at Beyond. She has more than nine years of experience in the areas of public relations, social media, online marketing, and sarcasm.
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Joe Stubblebine
Joe Stubblebine is Vice President of Talent Solutions at Beyond. Joe has over 15 years of entrepreneurial recruitment products and services experience.
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Joe Weinlick
Joe Weinlick is Senior Vice President of Marketing for Beyond. Joe has over 20 years of experience building brands, and as an advocate for consumers and the user experience.
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